Machine foe



' UNITED sTATEs vPATENT oFFioE.

MIL() .\l. IAhhlSII. OF PLEASANTYI1.1.16, NEW' YORK.

MACHINE FOR CUTTING STONE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 32,711. dated July 2, 1861.

To @ZL whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MILo M. Palmier-1, of Pleasantville, in the county of festchester and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement on Machinery for Vlutting Out and Dressing Slabs of Marble and other Stones Intended for Building Purposes; and I hereby'declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which-.

Figure l. is a vertical side elevation taken at the line w Fig. 2. Fig. 2. is a birds eye view of the machine. Fig. 3. is an end elevation. Fig. et is a side View of the cutter, and Fig. 5. is an end view of the cutter showing its broad edge.

Similar letters refer to like parts on all the figures.

The nature of my invention consists in the employment of a vibrating serrated curved cutter in combination with a pressure table by which I am enabled to increase and graduate the pressure upon the cutter as may be required, in cutting out slabs of marble or other stone, as hereinafter described.

The common method of cutting out slabs of marble from large blocks, is by the use of one or more saws, set in a reciprocating frame. These saws are thin blades of iron, nearly resembling long mill saws for sawing lout planks of wood only they have no teeth,

but each has a smooth edge, and the sawing is executed by clear sharp sand being fed into the slit along with watergvand the cutting blade is made to strike upon the sand at every stroke, with a dipping reciprocating cut. My invention is essentially different in all its features.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will describe it as briefly and clearly as possible so as to impart a correct ideaA of it in all its relations.

A, A, in the figures of the drawings, represents a stout general frame of wood or other material suitable for the purpose. It is shown as formed of four upright posts united by longitudinal and cross beams at top and bottom, so as to form a strong andfirm frame to support the mechanism;lf and retain the blocks of marble, or stone, which are to be reduced into slabs of any desired thickness. In the inside of' each of the posts of the general frame, there is a broad vertical groove B, extending from about the top to the bottom, and in each of the grooves is placed a slide block C, making four slide pieces; but more of these may be employed, if found necessary, to give steadiness to the cutter frame. A cord or chain (a) is attached to the top part of each slide block, and passes up to the top of the frame inside, and is secured to a winding drum D, which is placed across the frame and has its bearings on the top side pieces A, A.

On the end of drum D, outside of the frame, there is secured a grooved sheave or large pulley, to which a cord or chain I) is attached and passes down to a windlass lV, attached to one of the posts A', of the frame. The slides C, C are elevated by winding the four cords or chains a a a a around the drum D, through the agency-of the windlass IV. The cutters for cutting out the slabs of marble are secured in a reciprocating horizontal frame which is guided in the slides, for the purpose of elevating the cutters, when they are to be set for a new block. This is a common method of raising the cutter frames and no claim is set up for it.

L L is the horizontal cutter frame com posed of two longitudinal side pieces and t-wo cross braces L L. This frame is placed inside of the posts of the outer general frame, and it has a longitudinal projecting guide strip INI, secured on the`whole length of each side piece, andI fitting into a recess in each slide C, as shown in Fig. 3. The frame L is therefore suspended in the slides and is raised and lowered with them. It is also guided to move straight back and forth by the recesses of the slides and the guide strip or projection M.

The frame L has a metal horizontal cutter sash s secured in it by being attached to the two ends or cross pieces L L in any suitable manner. In Figs. l, 2, and 3 this sash is composed of three plates, running the whole length of the frame, with division blocks between them at the ends, leaving two long open spaces the whole length for two cutters, but it may be made for one or a greater number of cutters. At about the middle of the sash s two cutters T T are fastened by pins or axles t t passing through the plates of the. sash. The laxes of these cutters may be set`\.i\n line, or at different points in the sash frame as may be desired. There are three openings in the sash plates for setting the cutter axes at as many different places.

R R are two friction rollers, one on the top of each cutter. These may be quite heavy to increase the weight of the cutters. Each cutter may be formed of a plate of iron for its upper part, and the lower part designed for cutting, of steel, called a steelfaced cutter The lower edge of this cutter is curvilinear-.in form, and is serrated on the face. The cutter T is also formed with its serrated curved face e broader than the upper part of the blade above it, as shown in F ig. 5.

In the inside of the general frame A A, and resting upon the top of the rollers R R of the cutters, is a weighted table V V. This table has a cord or chain f f f f attached to each corner and passing upward over the grooved pulleys g g g g on the rollers G G and from thence to the drum H. A grooved pulley or sheave I is fastened on the outer end of the drum H. A cord or chain f is secured to the sheave I and passes thence to the windlass J. The table V is loaded with any amount of weight necessary. By winding up the cords or chains f f f on the drum H through the agency of the windlass J, as shown, the weighted table is elevated to any height desired according to the position to which the cutter sash is elevated to commence cutting out new slabs of any desired thickness.

Operation: lVhen a reciprocating motion is given to the cutter frame L. by the connecting rod of a steam engine, or other motive agency, it will slide back and fortlrin the guide channels vof the slides G. A large block of marble Z being adjusted firmly in the bed of the general frame, and the horizontal frame of cutter T, with the weighted table, being raised by the windlass to the proper height, so `that the cutter is brought to bear upon the top of the rough block of marble, the cutter frame is then moved rapidly back and forth. The cutter then oscillates on its axis t, in the sash S in consequence of the resistance which results from its curved serrated edge being brought into contact with the block of marble. IVhen this motion is imparted to the cutter, its serrated or toothed edge acts upon the block of marble to cut a channel through it with great rapidity by disintegration of the particles of marble. By this method of cutting out slabs of marble and stone, the violent jerking motion, and slow action peculiar to the common mode of sawing marble, are obviated.

Each tooth of the cutter is brought successively into contact with, and into action upon the block of marble when it is in a direct vertical line with the axis Owing to this action and the face of the cutter being broader than the cutter-blade at the root of the teeth, beautiful droved, or what is called tooled-work is produced on the face of each slab. A stream of water is conveyed to the block to float off the detritus of the stone.

The cutter frame and the weighted table are allowed to descend by their own gravity, as the channel is being cut in the block; a constant pressure is maintained upon the cutter.

I do not confine myself to the exact breadth of edge to be given tothe cutter, but it must be greater than the thickness of the blade above it, so that the blade may not touch and rub against the slab, or block, in its descent, as great friction would be caused thereby and the droved face would not be formed. As a great quantity of droved-marble work is employed in buildings, it has all to be wrought out by hand, after the blocks are cut out. This is a very tedious and expensive operation, which my invention is intended to obviate.

The weighted table is useful to graduate the pressure upon the cutters, according to the powerwhich may be at command for cutting, as by increasing'the pressure upon the cutters, with adequate power, slabs will be cut out with a corresponding increased rapidity. Slabs of marble for any purpose, may therefore be cut out in this manner in a much shorter period of time, and in a superior manner to, those which are cut out by the common sawing method.

By my invention, slabs of marble and stone may be obtained for building and other purposes at much less cost than by any mechanism at present in use for this purpose with which `I am acquainted. A great saving in the cost of erecting stone buildings may thus be secured.

Having thus described my invention I claim:

The employment of the vibrating weighted serrated curved cutter T constructed as described in combination with an adjustable weighted table for the purpose and substantially as set forth.

MILO M. PARRISH.

IVitnesses RICHD. THOMSON, C.- I. CoNNoLLY. 

